#014, Upanishads and Gita are true scriptures

Swami Vivekananda wrote to Shri Pramadadas Mitra on May 30, 1897:

"... The Upanishads and the Gita are the true scriptures; Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Chaitanya, Nanak, Kabir, and so on are the true Avataras ..."

In the same letter he mentions:

"...It is in the books written by priests that madnesses like that of caste are to be found, and not in books revealed from God. Let the priests enjoy the fruits of their ancestors' achievement, while I follow the word of God, for my good lies there..."

BLOGGER'S VIEWS
Had Vivekananda read verses 43 and 44 of chapter 18 of Bhagavad Gita, he would have easily found that one of Gita's principal objects was to impose caste system and the duties entrusted to every caste. I quote them here with translation:

MSY 43
s`auryam teejoo dhrutir daakshyam yuddhee ca api apalaayanam
daanam iis`varabhaavas` ca kshatrakarma svabhaavajam

MSY 44
krushi goorakshya vaan`ijyam vais`yakarma svabhaavajam
paricaryaatmakam karma s`uudrasyaapi svabhaavajam

English translation:
Valor, vigor, courage, efficiency and effectiveness, not fleeing from the battle field, charity, desire to rule the world are all the inherent duties and Actions of a Warrior. (DELIVERANCE 43).
Agriculture, cow-rearing, trade, are the inherent functions of a Trader-caste-born person.
Service is the inherent function of a Fourth-Caste born. (DELIVERANCE 44).

BLOGGER'S VIEWS
Vivekananda considered Krishna as a true incarnation (avatar). Can a true incarnation preach caste system? If Vivekananda had read these verses, would he have accepted Gita as a true scripture? In his letter, he said that "Caste is the greatest dividing factor and is the root of Maya". If caste is a "Maya (illusion)", Gita's main aim is to impose caste-linked duties.

VIVEKANANDA'S CERTIFICATE TO BHAGAVAD GITA
"...The Gita no doubt has already become the Bible of Hinduism, and it fully deserves to be so ..."

INTERPRETATION AND DEDUCTIONS
The bible of Hinduism wants Sudras to serve the higher castes!

In the same letter quoted above Vivekananda called himself Shudra and declared that he is free from all botheration of discipline. In his own words:

"... Over and above, I come to see from my studies that the disciplines of religion are not for the Shudra; if he exercises any discrimination about food or about going out to foreign lands, it is all useless in his case, only so much labour lost. I am a Shudra, a Mlechchha, so I have nothing to do with all that botheration. ... "

Writer's observations: 1) Vivekananda is taking a defence of his being "Shudra" when it comes to the question of following food discipline. For other purposes, he does not want caste.

2) For monks there is no caste. Monkhood is a rebirth and past-birth (house-holder) vasanas and samskaaras (memories, attachments, behaviors, thoughts) have to go. A monk has to adopt a monk's discipline. Now, the question arises: whether there is any code of food, drink and movement for monks? Though Mahabharata mentions the four Aashramas (stages of life: celibate-student, house-holder, forest-dweller, monk), rarely do we find the "dos and don'ts" prescribed for monks. Ascetics and sages in Hinduism are called Munis and Rushis. The younger ones will be in stage 1 (celibate student). The aged ones get married, become house-holders (stage-2) or forest-dwellers (stage-3). Rarely do we come across stage-4 of monks.

The concept of monks wearing ochre-robes, renouncing the world, residing at Mat`hs, seems to have started with Sankaracharya (9th Century A.D.) and his disciples. In their lineage we can find Badari, Puri, Dwaraka, Sringeri and Kanchi (partly) Mat`hs. They propagate the "Advaita Vedanta" which Vivekananda ostensibly propagated. The S`ankara Maths have a tradition of following vegetarianism and abstinence from alcohol (till contrary is proved). They do not seem to have any ban on foreign travel. On some occasions, Vivekananda compared himself to Adi S`ankaracharya. Aadi S`ankaracharya and his disciples have Sanskrit works of about 100,000 verses).